Blood magic
Blood magic appears to consist primarily of personal-only buffs (see Spells , below), but a skilled user can also use it to heal themselves or othersFor healing themselves: For healing others: , or to burn out infections via blood transfusion. Blood magic is taught at the Athenaeum of Quills and Blood, and blood mages can be employed as healers or combat mages. Multimages with access to blood magic can extend the range of their touch spells by getting a target to touch their blood, as the caster's blood counts as them for the purpose of using magic. Spells Aarde's Touch Aarde's touch is the first blood magic spell that Amaryllis teaches Juniper. It uses the caster's body heat to power a flame, which can be used for light or to burn things. Bare Augmentation Blood magic spells that directly increase physical power are called bare augmentation Note that at this point juniper only knows aarde's touch, crimson fist/foot, and sanguine surge. Aarde's touch obviously isn't bare augmentation, so at least one of the other three is. Since they're so similar, it seems likely that they all are. We also know that the Claret spear *''isn't* bare augmentation from Lisi's reponse earlier in the chapter. . There are several spells in this group, all of which provide a short burst of strength (without increasing resilience) for the price of a few drops of blood. Crimson Fist Despite the name, Crimson Fist can do more than augment punches. It appears to be able to augment almost any arm movement. Juniper, in particular, appears to use it with sword blows. Crimson Foot Crimson Foot, like the rest of the bare augmentation spells, can presumably do more than enhance kicks. However, the distinction between places where Crimson Foot or Sanguine Surge are applicable is somewhat unclear, as both work with leg muscles. Sanguine Surge Like Crimson Fist, Sanguine surge is more broadly applicable than the description seems to imply. For example, Juniper uses it to run faster. Transfusion Spells Blood magic revolves around manipulating ''the caster's vital essence. How, then, can they use it to influence other people? The answer is apparently transfusions. While Bloodline is the only spell in this category that Juniper uses, it is theoretically possible to apply the Aarde's Touch or Bare Augmentation spells via transfusion, as well as to create more exotic effects like burning out nascent infections. Bloodline Bloodline is the spell that blood mages use to heal other people. The healing presumably functions in a manner similar to bone magic's healing, with a temporary boost in END resulting in more lasting healing. The five factors mentioned in the description are all binary, and are Aerb's equivalent of blood types. Unlike Earthly blood types, the five factors are almost entirely determined by species . Transfusions appear to have non-fatal side-effects as long as at least three of the five factors match. An interesting note is that Aerb has more sapient species than there are possible 5-factor alignments, meaning there are different species that can reliably serve as a perfect match to each other. Blood Control Blood mages gain a limited amount of telekinetic control over their own blood, which is the basic skill behind their ability to create blood objects. In addition to the spells listed here, a blood mage with enough skill can control the flow of their blood to stop their injuries from bleeding, or to stop themselves from blushing. Blood Hardening Blood Hardening, despite the name, appears to operate by using telekinesis to apply a counter force rather than actually hardening the mage's blood. Between this spell, the ability to stop themselves from bleeding, and the ability to heal themselves blood mages are actually reasonably durable. Claret Spear The most common blood weapon is a spear. The spell is difficult to use, requiring concentration to maintain the form. It's also hard to use because it doesn't really obey the laws of physics like normal, resulting in somewhat counterintuitive movement. There are also difficulties associated with pulling a large quantity of blood from the mage's body. In addition to the obvious symptoms of blood loss while the spear is active, if the mage wants to return the blood to their body it needs to be purified as it's potentially been exposed to infections or toxins that they don't want inside of them. On the other hand, the claret spear is good because of its interactions with other spells and magics. Stabbing someone with the spear allows the mage to force blood into their opponent, which counts as an infusion for the purposes of Bloodline. Considerations for multimages with regards to touch spells presumably also apply. Finally, the Claret Spear can be thrown as long as the mage is willing to eat the blood loss, which can combine well with the above. Blood Magic in the Game Layer Blood magic's primary stat is WIS, and its secondary stat is probably END Known virtues include: *'Hypertension''' (level 20): doubles Juniper's blood volume Blood magic is affected by two of Essentialism's virtues- Soul Saturation allows Juniper to use blood in place of ink (for ink magic) and infusions (for pustule magic), while Soul Symbiote doubles his effective skill in Blood Magic, up to a cap of 75.Essentialism Known Practitioners *Amaryllis Penndraig studied blood magic at the Athenaeum of Quills and Blood. *Juniper Smith is an unlicensed blood mage *Lisianthus Penndraig is a combat blood mage Category:Magic